Stitch for Victory Launches this Weekend
Eastbourne’s historic Redoubt Fortress is getting ready to open for the season this weekend launching its 2011 Stitch for Victory exhibition offering visitors a unique insight into the contribution that needlework made to life during the Second World War.
The Napoleonic fortress on Eastbourne seafront is celebrating its opening weekend with a free event on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 April, perfect for families enjoying the start to the Easter Holidays.

Visitors can watch the fortress come to life with Victorian soldiers of The Diehards performing their Home Service duties throughout both days, as well as enjoy browsing the new Stitch for Victory exhibition.

An Eastbourne Borough Council spokesperson said “This year’s events calendar at the Redoubt Fortress is bigger and better than ever before and we’re really excited to kick off the season with this free family event. For over 200 years, the Redoubt has stood ready to defend the Eastbourne coastline and with canons still standing on the gun platform, it offers a great atmospheric stage for events like The Diehards and is the perfect home for exciting military collections and unusual exhibitions.”

Stitch for Victory is the Redoubt’s major new exhibition this year and will explore the contribution that stitching, embroidering, knitting, and needlework made to the wellbeing of civilians and servicemen during the Second World War.

Opening on Saturday, visitors will be able to discover how stitching was used to steady nerves in the air raid shelters and how prisoners of war documented their experiences with secret needles and thread. This is the first time that artefacts, documents, and memories have been brought together for an unusual, evocative and inspiring display.

The Stitch for Victory exhibition will be complimented later in April by temporary exhibition War Stories, which will run to coincide with the Eastbourne Festival from 23 April – 15 May. Recent textile graduate Jade Marczynski will showcase her work of hand embroidered pieces inspired by memories from those who survived World War Two.

Other highlights at the Redoubt this year include a programme of children and family workshops starting with Raise the Jolly Roger on Thursday 14 April, an event inspired by the Stitch for Victory exhibition when children can use the submariner’s code to send a message via their own jolly roger flag, family storytelling on Wednesday 20 April, and the Eastbourne Armed Forces Weekend from 24-25 June honouring the contribution of the armed forces past, present and future.

For more information on what’s on at the Redoubt Fortress go to www.eastbournemuseums.co.uk or call 01323 410300.